It Was Just Too Hard
by KissingKorpses
Summary: We loved you, we trusted you, we gave up everything for you... And you didn't return the favor. We're not sorry. Broken hearts are the hardest wounds to heal. SASUSAKU NEJITEN NARUHINA SHIKATEM...
1. The Night With No Stars

_We loved you. You didn't return the favor. Now we're gone, and you want us back… Broken hearts are the hardest wounds to heal._

_It was too hard _

* * *

_On a surprisingly cold summer night in Kohona, four very lovely young ladies were either pissed of or crying their eyes out._

_A pink haired girl sat on a stone, cold, bench crying in the forest._

_A girl with brown hair in 2 buns was throwing kunai blindly, and angrily at trees in the forest. _

_A girl with midnight blue hair was crying desperately by a small lake in the middle of the forest._

_A girl with dirty blonde hair in 4 spiky ponytails, was waving a giant fan yelling out destructive jutsu in a forest clearing._

* * *

Let us visit the pinkette first.

_Sakura POV_

* * *

_I sat there, on a bench crying about what I had just witnessed. During training, Sasuke's headband fell off. I knew that he'd be on the training grounds, so I decided to return it to him. _

_When I got to the clearing he was usually was at, I saw something I never thought I'd see. Sasuke……….on top of a girl………both of them half naked…………._

_Apparently Sasuke heard me. _

_( and or saw me ,damn sharingan) "Gomen Sasuke kun. Sorry I interrupted, I just wanted to give you back your headband" I managed to stutter under his stone cold gaze. Then with as much grace as I could muster, I turned heel and walked away. _

_Once I was about 2 feet away, I broke into a sprint. Too tired to move on, I sat on this very bench and began to cry. The man that I loved… I was even going to have his kid… _

_I would have to leave Kohona… that is exactly what I have to do. I'll go pack my bags and I'll leave. I'll even leave shishou a letter. Besides, Kohona doesn't need an annoying weak kunoichi like Haruno Sakura any more. _

_On that note, I began to walk home, thinking of the life my unborn child and I would have._

* * *

The girl's story is sad. But not far away from her bench is the girl with 2 brown buns in her hair. Lets see how she's doing…

_TenTen's POV_

* * *

_I was- scratch that, I am pissed!! I threw my kunai blindy at the targets; all the while pretending they looked like Neji… why was I so pissed? HERE'S WHY!!_

_Gai made it mandatory for each member of the team to give each other gifts once a year. Today was that day. I received a green jumpsuit from Gai sensei (like hell I'd actually wear it!) , a fuuma shuriken made out of paper from lee (he said it took him 36 hours to make, but his "unwavering youthfulness" pulled him through), and from Neji I got a katana!! A FUCKIN KATANA!! I almost squealed like a 5 year old._

_I gave Gai and lee the same thing, a book called _"HOW TO CALM THEHELLDOWN, SO YOU DON'T ANNOY THE SHIT OUT OF EVERYONEYOU'RE AROUND!!"_ and for Neji I got him a kunai made out of a special kind of metal that only came from the village hidden in the mist. I also got his name written on it. Kohona only got a shipment of these babies 1 or 2 times every 10 years!!_

_It costed a hell of a lot just to get the kunai!! It costed 200 more to get his name written on it! So after training, I saw the kunai on the field. I picked it up thinking he had lost it during training, so I walked around looking for him. After 5 minutes of this, I headed for the trees. _

_I hopped from 1 to the other, when I finally saw him. He was in a tree, about 2 feet way, kissing a blonde. I stifled a gasp and headed back; his kunai squeezed in my hand._

'_she is prettier than me' I thought. 'she has curves, pretty blue eyes, and a figure. She's even blonde! I should have known he wouldn't want a girl like me. I was going to have his fucking brat too. I finally snapped and decided 1 thing: that I was going to leave Kohona. No one would miss me. I left for my apartment to go pack._

* * *

Another sad love story, but wait there are 2 more. Lets go see the girl by the lake_…_

_Hinata's POV_

* * *

_I looked at myself in the clear blue water of the lake. I was a wreck. I had been crying for about 2 hours straight. It all started earlier today…_

_Naruto asked me to go to ichiraku ramen stand; he said he would meet me there. So I went. I used my byakugan to see if he really was there or just pranking me. _

_Sure enough, Naruto was there. I walked a little closer and saw that I girl was eating ramen next to him. She had a figure that made me feel flat as a floorboard and thin as a toothpick. She had long blonde hair in 2 pony tails. Her eyes were green so she couldn't have been any blonde girls I knew._

_I then saw her take some noodles out of Naruto kuns bowl. I saw Naruto scowl playfully and grab the other end of the noodles with his chopstick and push them into his mouth. _

_The noodles got thinner and shorter, and space between the 2 was getting closer and closer. And finally their lips met. I still had my byakugan activated, so I could see him slide his tongue into her mouth. _

_I choked on a sob and I ran here. To think, I was going to have uzumaki naruto's child…. I didn't even tell him yet. It was then a.k.a now I decided I had to go. Hinata Hyuga would have to leave Kohona. After all everyone there except the girls and the hokage and Shizune thought I was weak. I would leave Kohona, and if I ever do return I'll be stronger, with my child by my side. I ran back to the Hyuga compound to pack._

* * *

This is the last story of heartbreak before our real story. And this is the story of heartbreak for the girl with dirty blonde hair…..

_Temari POV_

* * *

_I was pissed. That was and is why I am destroying innocent trees and squirrels. Screw the damn squirrels… Shikamaru sure did…_

_What I mean is… it would be easier if I started from the beginning. Okay, today is Valentines Day, so I decided to give a gift instead of the usual candy and flowers. But what would get for Shikamaru? I decided to give him an ancient shogi board. It was used by a great general during the Great War._

_It took me forever to persuade the elders to give it to me. But eventually I did. I even bought 2 shogi pieces. One had a fan on it which was mine, and the other had a white cloud with the kanji symbol of lazy on it._

_It took me a good 4 hours to get to Kohona on time. I then scanned the town for any sign of Shikamaru. Once I found him, he was at his house. His mother led me to his room and said something like "no grandkids before 29" or something like that. I heard snoring, so I decided to leave the gift by his door and leave with that._

_So after a few hours, I figured that Shikamaru had gotten the board. I decide to go back to his house. When I got up to his room, I heard moaning from the other side of the door._

_I opened the door slightly and saw a girl and Shikamaru half naked, with him on top of her. The shogi board was broken in half on the floor, long forgotten._

_The fucking bastard had broken me. I was having his little brat too. I'll just leave both my homes. Suna and Kohona. I ran back to my hotel to pack up._

* * *

The final straw. The girls are leaving. Here is where our true story begins.

SAKURA POV

* * *

Dear Tsunade Chan,

By the time you read this, I'll be long gone. I feel weak, and my emotions hold me back constantly. I hope to come back someday, with my child by my side. Yes, I am having a baby. It is Uchiha Sasuke's child. Maybe even his children. (they might be twins!)

I hid them from everyone. I guess that I was just scared. I wish you, Naruto kun, Sasuke, Kakashi, and Shizune Chan have wonderful lives. Don't come after me. I might have to hurt you, if you do. I'll be back eventually.

I'll never forget my home.

Love, Sakura Haruno.

I finished my letter. I pulled on my jacket which was black and reached to my ankles. It hung over my shirt. It was my regular shirt, except it was black, had fishnet sleeves, and my shorts were black with the tan skirt. I laced up my sandals and I slung my back pack over my shoulder. I poofed into the Hokage building and put the letter onto Tsunade's desk, and transported to the gate.

I knocked out both the gaurds, and began walking.

"Sakura Chan, what are you doing here?" I heard and innocent voice ask me.

I spun around and saw Hinata. She was wearing unusual clothes. Her jacket was slimmed out, black, and stopped at her midriff. The bottom of her white tank top showed underneath. She wore her plain navy khaki's with her weapons, and a bag slung over her shoulder.

I realized, that she was dressed like me. She was dressed, for traveling.

"Apparently, the same place you're going." I replied.

"Well, it looks like a party." I heard another voice say.

I saw Temari and Tenten come out of the shadows.

Temari had her hair in 2 low ponytails. She wore her same old fighter kimono except in black. She wore a black choker with a fan on it. Her fan was on her back as usual. Her nin shoes were black and reached her shins.

Tenten wore her hair in 2 french braids. She wore a black, sleeveless, Chinese style dress that reached her mid upper thigh. She wore white pants and black 1 inch heeled ninja shoes. She had a giant kunai strapped to her back.

"I'm thinking, we're all here for the same reason." I said.

"You mean, you're having a bastards kid too?" Temari scoffed.

Tenten, Hinata, and I nodded.

"And you decided to leave, because you feel weak on top of that?" She added.

Once again the 3 of us nodded.

"Why don't we leave together? There's power in numbers. And if one of us gets hurt we would have 2 medics." Tenten questioned.

"I don't have a problem with it." Temari said.

"Neither do i." Hinata said.

"Sounds fine. We could even raise our kids together." I told them.

They nodded.

"Hey, Tenten, what's that on your left shoulder?" I asked.

Tenten looked down on her shoulder. On it was a Kunai marking. The kunai was surrounded by pink roses with black stems and thorns.

"Oh this? I don't really know… It just appeared on my shoulder a week ago." She replied.

"Did you say a week?" Temari said.

Tenten nodded.

"I have one of those too. Except it circles around my left thigh." Temari replied.

She lifted the hem of her kimono, revealing a fan similar to hers on her thigh. It was open and had 3 purple stars (or are they moons? I'm not sure…). Dark purple swirls surrounded the fan.

"I have one too." Hinata murmured.

She pulled the collar of her shirt down a bit. A little below her collar bone, right near the small space between her breasts was a sky blue tear drop. Surrounding the drop were indigo swirls and stars.

"Sakura, do you have one?" Tenten asked.

"Yes, and I know what they mean."

I turned around and pulled down the collar of my jacket. On the back of my neck was a Cherryblossom, surrounded by swirls of fire. Coming out if it on either side, were dark green rose thorns.

"What do you mean? These marks have a meaning?" Hinata asked.

"A long time ago, there were 4 young girls. The girls names were, Momoko, Hikaru, Shirahime, and Kikiyo. Momoko had beautiful mid back dark pink hair, and firey red eyes. Hikaru had dark blue shoulder length hair and pale lavender eyes. Shirahime had thick wavy brown hair, and jaded green eyes. Kikyo had dirty blonde hair kept in two braids, and cerulean eyes. The girls were very beautiful. One day, 4 handsome gods decided to make the girls theirs."

"And so the girls were wed. Momoko married the Fire God. Hikaru, married the water God.. Shirahime married the Earth God. And Kikiyo married the Air God. As gifts from the gods, each girl gained the same powers as her husband. But one day, the girls had found the gods in bed with their slaves."

"The girls –heartbroken- immeadetly left. But the gods forgot to take the powers away from the girls. While the girls were gone they had the gods children. One day, after 8 years, the girls went back to heaven, and proved to the gods that they truly were powerful. The gods begged them to stay in heaven, but the girls left; and had their children. And every other generation the powers passed on from daughter to daughter, son to son."

"And this generation, we are the desendents of the Elementals." I said.

"But wouldn't that mean that the gods have their descendents as well?" Temari said.

"Yes…" I said.

"Then history has repeated itself, but a little differently…" Hinata said.

"We've wasted too much time. We need to get going before dawn." Temari stated.

We nodded, and with that all 4 of us left the Hidden Leaf village.

* * *

_7 Years Later…_

* * *

'_I hope Tsunade has a good reason for calling this early…' _a certain chicken-ass-haired nin thought.

His name? Sasuke. Uchiha Sasuke. (Bond. James Bond. X3)

After 8 years he matured. Mostly physically. And by that, I mean he was hotter than hell!! It must be a crime to be that sexy!! I mean DAMN!! He's fucking hot!! (Sakura hits me over the head. Owie…)

_Today, is the anniversary, of the day she left…_

He thought. Yes, the coldhearted bastard still thought about Sakura Haruno. In truth his missed her. And although he didn't want to admit it… He loved her. Not knowing whether she was dead or not, was too much for the Uchiha survivor. Hopefully a mission would take his mind off of it.

When he opened the door to the Hokage tower, he saw that Naruto, Neji and Shikamaru were in the room as well.

"Tsunade sama, what's going on?" Naruto asked.

"As you may know 3 Kohona Kunoichi and 1 sand left Kohona approximately seven years ago. The elders and i believe that these nin have been gone too long. Your mission, if you accept it, is to bring these girls back to Kohona. Do you accept?"

"I accept." They all said at the same time.

"Your mission begins now." Tsunade said.

The four "poofed" out of the room.

Tsunade smirked and picked up the letter on her desk.

_Tsunade sama,_

_Hello. I trust that you'd be expecting me and the girls by now, huh? We're on our way back home. But we ran into a little trouble. The children won't make it. Send some scouts to the south side of the Kohona wall. I missed you Tsunade-Kaa Chan. And I'm finally home._

_Sakura_

"I just hope that they're in time..." Tsunade muttered.

* * *

_**With The Girls**_

_**Sakura POV**_

* * *

Those bastards were catching up to us.

"Kagami, Sakuko, I need you two to head north to Kohona. There, you'll find some ninja. Tell them that we need help." I told them.

"But Kaa Chan!" Sakuko whined.

"Sakuko Tsunade Haruno, go with your brother." I commanded.

She nodded and went up to the front with the other children. It looked as though the girls had the same thoughts and soon he kids were out of our sight. But their chakra signiture imprinted on our minds. I stopped.

"Come out." I called.

"You've gotten better, dear Sakura." The voice said.

That voice sent chills up my spine.

"What do you want_ Orochimaru_?"

* * *

_**Sasuke POV**_

* * *

We jumped from tree to tree with chakra enhanced feet.

"Wait." Neji said.

Our formation stopped.

Neji in front. Shikamaru and I on either side of him and Naruto picking up the rear.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Come out now." Neji said.

The bushes ahead of us rustled and 7 children came out. The ones with emerald and onyx eyes interested me. The girl had pink hair...

"Who are you, and why are you here?" Neji asked.

"Though we can't tell you our names, we can tell you our business. Our mothers are in danger. A strange man has been tailing us for weeks. They sent us to find help. Mamo, are they battling?" a young girl with dark brown hair said.

The boy called Mamo's veins around his eyes throbbed while his mouth formed a single word.

_"Byakugan"_

* * *

_**With the girls**_

_**Sakura POV**_

* * *

"What do you want, Orochimaru?" I asked.

"Why Sakura, your voice has grown cold. It's edge cuts me like a kunai, Sakura Chan." he said.

"You have no goddamn right to call me Sakura Chan. To you and your followers, We are known as the Kuro Tenshi. And I as Kuro Blossom." I said. My voice rang out in the forest.

_Sakura, the children are okay. They found some anbu and Mamo is helping them find us._ Hinata's voice rang out in my head.

I nodded.

"Well Oro, you came for a fight. Shall we dance?" I asked.

My eyes turned red as did my hair. My hands made rapid signs.

"Katon: Ryuu Tenshi no Jutsu!(1)" I yelled.

Bat wings of fire sprouted from my back.

"Mizu: Ryuu Tenshi no Jutsu!(1)" Hinata yelled behind me. Her wings were made of water but had the texture of angels wings.

"Daichi: Ryuu Tenshi no Jutsu! Stage 2! (2)" Tenten yelled. A dragon made out of solid clay erupted from the ground. She jumped on its head. It rose until it was as tall as Hinata and I were high in the air. (49 ft in the air)

"Kaze:Ryuu Tenshi no Jutsu! Stage 2! (2) Temari yelled. A dragon made out of a thick gray fog landed at Temari's feet. It's yellow eyes glistened with bloodlust. She jumped on its head and they rose into the air as well.

"Girls, go to stage 1 of The Unlocking!" I yelled.

They nodded.

Hinata's hair grew until it reached her mid back and was sky blue. Her eyes were indigo.

Tenten's hair came out of the buns and cut itself so it only reached her mid neck. It was green and had black streaks. Her eyes were forest green.

Temari's hair came out of its ponytails and stayed at it's original length. Her eyes became a lightning yellow and her hair became a smoky gray color.

My hair turned black and grew until my mid back, like Hinata's. My pupils turned crimson while the rest of my eye turned black.

It's time to give a bastard, HELL

* * *

**_1. Fire: Dragon Angel Jutsu_**

**_2: Water: Dragon Angel Jutsu_**

**_3. Earth: Dragon Angel Jutsu_**

**_4. Wind: Dragon Angel Jutsu _**

**_Review or I shall eat you!! RAWR!! Jk, but please review!!_**

**_Thanx to ANBUInu for catchin my mistake!!_**

* * *


	2. Angelic Release

**_Hinata POV_**

* * *

I wasn't suprised when Orochimaru stepped out of the shadows. He had been tailing all of us for weeks. Apparently, he was angry that we sorta kinda....ripped-power-from-beneath-his-feet-and-made-every-person-in-his-effin-village-start-a-revolution...yea. I'd be angry if that happened to me, too. But he didn't have the right to go after our children. I just hope that Kikio and Yukio are alright.

_Hina Chan, focus!!_

Sakura's voice rang out in my mind. I nodded.

"Art of the Angel! Kai Mist!" I yelled. I put my palms to the sky and a thick mist covered the area.

"Byakugan!" I whispered.

I never had the need to use my byakugan. Ever since I became an elemental, it didn't really matter. I scanned the area.

_The kids are about 28 meters from our location. 4 Shinobi are on their way with them. Orochimaru has about 12 other men. 2 are coming for Tema, 8 for Saku, one for Tenten and one for me._

I sent the thought out to the others. I felt their Elemental Pressure (1) increase. A kunai whizzed by my face, barely grazing my cheek. I pulled a senbon from my pack and sent it directly backwards on the direct line of the byakugan's blind spot. (2). I smirked to myself.

This was going to be **way** too easy.

* * *

_With the kids

* * *

_

"They're just a little bit further up!" Mamoru said.

Sasuke, Neji, Naruto, and Shikamaru followed faithfully.

"Kaga chan, Kaa san told us not to activate that!" the young dark pink haired girl.

"Sakuko, you're one to talk. You know that, too. But your pretty little eyes are still red, aren't they?" the one called Kaga chan said with a smirk on hhis face. Sakuko huffed and kept running with them.

_'Sakuko? Child of Saku? And what does he mean by "activate" Red eyes? Are these kids Uchiha?'_ Sasuke thought.

He looked from the boy to the girl. The boy's black hair stuck up in a way that only an Uchiha's could.

"Wait!" Mamoru said. Everyone came to a complete halt. Mamoru's eyes became wide and scared.

"Sakuko! Get out of the way!" he yelled. He ran up to the little girl and sheilded her with his body. A kunai hit him square in the back.

"Mamo chan!" she yelled.

"I told you to get out of the way." he said while smirking.

_**(Mini Sasusaku moment. cept it's tentens's kid and sakura's kid...WTF?!" BACK TO THE STORY!!!))**_

"YOU FUCKIN IDIOT!! EVEN IF IT DID HIT ME, THEN I COULD'VE HEALED IT!! BESIDES, THAT THING HIT YOU IN YOUR BLIND SPOT!!" she screeched angrily at him.

She got up and went around him. She yanked the kunai out of his back. He winced.

"Haha! That's what you get for making me use my chakra so early in the afternoon!" Sakuko said.

Her hand was then enveloped in bright red chakra. The ends of her hair floated slightly and a red outline surrounded her.

"Is this normal?" Naruto asked the small blonde boy.

"Yep. Mamoru has a crush on Sakuko. But he always acts stupid around her, always trying to protect her when she can protect herself. My kaa chan says it reminds her of the man who loved Sakuko and Kagami's kaa chan. He was always trying to protect her." he replied.

"Sounds alot like you, eh Sasuke?" Naruto asked him.

"Hn." was his only reply.

**_BOOM!! CRASH!! BANG!! EXPLODE!!_**

**_"GET BACK HERE YOU FUCKIN BASTARD!! I AIN'T DONE YET!!" _**

Was heard in the distance.

"That's our kaa chan's!" a lavender haired girl said cheerfully.

"Damn straight, Kikio!" Sakuko yelled.

"WE might want to get there before my kaa kills all the poor trees with those scrolls." Mamoru said.

AND THEY WERE OFF!! AGAIN!!

* * *

_Hinata POV_

* * *

"ANGELS RELEASE! GATE OF ICE!" I yelled.

Sakura had just called for the magical release. Ice shot out of my palms and created a dome across the battle area.

"ANGELS RELEASE! TALISMAN OF LIGHTING!!" Temari yelled.

Lighting shot out of her palms and destroyed the ice dome. It was raining ice crystals and sparks of lightning.

"ANGELS RELEASE!! SHURIKEN OF EARTH!!" Tenten yelled next.

Thick balls of dirt and mud captured each spark and ice crystal. It molded until it was in the shape of a shuriken.

"ANGELS RELEASE!! LIGHT OF THE FIRE!!" Sakura yelled finally.

THe fire surrounded each shuriken and we sent them towards Orochimaru.

"FINAL MOVE!! DEATH OF DARKNESS!! ANGEL RELEASE!!" we all yelled together.

"You've gotten better girls. But not good enough." Orochimaru said.

He dissapperead and the flame shuriken had no where else to go.

Instead...

They hit the poor defenseless trees....

**_BOOM!! CRASH!! BANG!!! EXPLODE!!_**

**_"GET BACK HERE BASTARD!! I AIN'T DONE YET!!" _**Sakura and I yelled simeltaneously (sp?)

"Kaa chan!!" I heard a familiar voice yell.

I whipped my head around and saw Yukio jump up. Wings made of ice sprouted from his back. WHen he was close enough he wrapped his small arms around my leg and hugged it.

"We thought we were too late!" he yelled.

"HEY BAKA!! DON'T YOU DARE HOG KAA CHAN AGAIN!!" Kikio yelled.

I sweat dropped a little bit. Kikio had gone "Dark Purple(3)" again.

Soon she was hugging my other leg with ice wings flittering on her back as well.

"Look kaa chan! THe blonde boy helped us find you!" Yukio yelled while he flew downwards towards a familiar looking blonde haired boy.

"His name is Naruto Uzumaki!"

* * *

**_1: Elemental Pressure: Its the chakra from their elemental powers. Sakura's is red, Tenten's dark green, Temari, smoky gray and Hinata lavender. Elemental chakra is different from regular chakra because it can't be formed into different jutsu outside of its element. So if using Elemental chakra, Sakura can't use water jutsu._**

**_2: Blind Spot: Since Hinata became an elemental, she expanded her byakugan through extensive training. Now, she doesn't have a blind spot._**

**_3: Dark Purple: Kikio goes dark purple when she gets angry. Sort of like Black Haru from Fruits Basket._**


	3. Life Is Hard

**NEXT CHAPTER UPLOADED!!! **

**WOOT WOOT!!!**

**ENJOY!!!**

_**

* * *

**_

Tenten POV

* * *

A blank look crossed my face. After Naruto came, then came Sasuke, Shikamaru, and...Neji.

"Mamoru Fujiwara!!" I yelled.

I hopped off of my earth dragon and landed on my feet.

"DISPELL!" I yelled while making the tiger sign with my hands. The dragon shined with a bright light green light and it flew into my back. I stifled a quick gasp of pain.

I looked to Mamoru then I looked from Naruto to Neji.

"Who are you?" Neji asked.

I looked at him like he was crazy. Then, remembering that we had changed our appearances since we left, I gave a sweet smile.

"My name is Hakura Fujiwara, nice to meet you. I see you have met our children..." I replied kindly, while I grabbed Mamoru's arm a little roughly.

"Mamo Chan, you know very well you should have at least gone to the Hokage sama before bringing strangers to us." I scolded my son lightly.

"But Kaa Chan, their chakra signatures seemed so-" he began, but I cut him off.

"So familiar? That is because we used to live in Kohona Mamo Chan, before you were born. I don't know how, but apparently, you can remember chakra signatures. That doesn't excuse the fact that you brought strangers to us." I added quickly, while erasing his only way out.

"Hakura…Fujiwara?" Neji asked.

I nodded while giving a small smile to him.

"And you would be?" I replied with a question as well.

"Neji Hyuuga." He replied.

"Naruto Uzumaki!!" Naruto said.

"Nara Shikamaru…" Shikamaru said in a lazy tone.

"Hn…Uchiha Sasuke."

"Nice to meet all of you. As you know, I'm Hakura Fujiwara. My black haired friend that just left is Kyoko Haruno. The girl with sky blue hair is Mizuki Mizuno. The girl with dirty blonde hair is Mai Kitsune. Pleasure to meet you all." I said while gesturing to the girls.

We could afford to use my and Sakura's last names, but not Hinata and Temari's. The names were too recognizable.

"These are our children. Introduce yourselves." I added with a kind smile.

"Mamoru Fujiwara."

"Yukio Mizuno!! DATTEBAYO!!"

"Kikio Mizuno. The dumbass is my brother."

"Sumiko Kitsune. This is troublesome. Kaa Chan, when do we get to see Kyo Chan's Kaa Chan?" she asked Temari –a.k.a. Mai-.

"Right now if you're so impatient. She, Kagami, and Sakuko are already halfway there." Temari said while making a few hand signs.

"Kaze: Angelic Wing no Juutsu!" she said again.

Air swirled around her and created angel wings on her back. Sumiko followed her mother in the juutsu and they flew away to follow Sakura and the others.

"Kaa Chan, can we go too?" Kikio asked Hinata –a.k.a. Mizuki- with puppy dog eyes.

"Where exactly are you going?" Naruto asked.

"To see Tsunade sama, of course." Hinata replied in a strong voice.

I knew how hard she was trying to be brave in front of her children, and in front of Naruto.

'_He doesn't know you. You're an alien to him. It'll be fine.'_ I thought to her in a calming tone.

I saw her tensed muscles relax and smiled softly.

"We'll escort you then." Neji said.

"Well, we actually know where it-" Hinata began.

"Okay," I cut her off. "Since we're basically alien kunoichi, you would want to escort us, wouldn't you?"

"Hn. Let's get going." Sasuke said.

* * *

Sakura POV

* * *

"It's great to see you again, Tsunade Kaa." I said while hugging my "Mom".

I had been writing to Tsunade for the past seven years, giving her updates on what was happening. Apparently, my letters had saved Kohona from war a few times. Tsunade hugged me back with my same enthusiasm. She pulled back and looked at me.

"What is your alias? I need to know how to address you." She said.

"Kyoko Haruno. But Kyo Chan, or Kyo Kun work too." I replied.

"Auntie Tsunade!!" Sakuko yelled while running over to Tsunade.

I was surprised that she even remembered Tsunade. By letter, we had exchanged pictures of how the children were progressing and Tsunade would often write to Sakuko, Kikio, and Sumiko to see how they were progressing as girls.

"Hey there, Munchkin! How are you?" Tsunade asked while picking Sakuko up.

"Just fine, thank you very much. Kaga Chan's being a butt head though." She replied with a small smile.

Kagami rolled his eyes and waved to Tsunade. We all rolled our eyes at the same time.

"Sakura, you do know you have to tell these two and the other five children the truth, right?" Tsunade said in a more serious tone.

I nodded.

"I know these two are ready. It's up to Hinata, Tenten, and Temari to tell the others." I replied.

Tsunade nodded and put Sakuko down. Sakuko looked up at me, and Kagami did the same as he walked over.

"Listen you two, when you hear this information, you must keep it a secret, promise?" I told them while making a small nick on my finger with my teeth and crouching down to their level.

They both nodded and did the same. We put our index fingers together and our bodies were outlined in red.

"This secret I enclose to you, you must carry to your grave. Only when I deem fit, you my repeat what I tell you. If it comes down to a life or death situation, lie as only I have taught you to do so. Do we have an understanding?" I recited as I had so many times before.

"We do so have an understanding." They said at the same time.

"Your father's name is Uchiha Sasuke. We left the village seven years ago because we felt betrayed and cheated because of them. We raised you away from Kohona so you wouldn't feel that you owed anything to your Father, as you do not. Do not resent your father, as I have already hated him enough for all three of us. Forgive him, even if you do hold a shard of hatred deep inside of your heart." I said calmly.

"Your secret has been heard. And your story shall be kept." Sakuko and Kagami said while looking up at me, their eyes fully red as the promise was accepted into their hearts.

The red outline soon faded, and I sighed. I got up from my position. I looked down at them and looked my children over. Kagami Kiseki Uchiha Haruno. His black hair was always messy, and his jade green eyes resembled mine. His black shirt was a short sleeved turtleneck, and he wore white shorts, matched up with black nin sandals.

Sakuko Tsunade Haruno. Her dark pink hair reached her elbows, one of her eyes was smoky grey, and her other bright emerald green. Her outfit consisted of a black short sleeved turtleneck as well, with a white skirt that reached her knees with two long slits up the side. Black bandages were wrapped around her thighs covering up the many scars she had there, as well as acting as shorts. Her sandals were black summer nin sandals.

"Sakura, are you sure you want to keep up this charade?" Tsunade asked me softly.

I nodded.

"If that bastard loved me then, he wouldn't have…" my voice trailed into nothing.

Life wasn't fair. And it never would be.

* * *

_**Sasuke POV**_

* * *

It wasn't right. Things didn't add up. Itachi couldn't have been their father, right? But it couldn't have been me either, right? The only two were Mikiru and…Sakura. I shook my head and looked forward. It still didn't add up.

"Why did I do that, anyway?" I asked myself while running a hand through my hair. .

I didn't understand why Sakura had given herself to me. I didn't deserve her. After all the bullshit I had put her through, she was still willing. It didn't make sense and I didn't want it too. So I did the only thing I could do to forget: find someone else.

But all the time I was with Mikiru, Sakura was the only person on my mind. I saw her tears, her pain, her smile, her laugh. It was all I could feel and all I knew I was causing her by doing this. I wasn't being fair to her, and I knew it.

I saw her come in and I saw her leave with tears in her eyes. I kicked Mikiru out and immediately began searching for Sakura. But before I could even find her, she was gone.

Gone forever.

Gone because of me.

Life wasn't fair. Especially not for people like me.

* * *

~Life is hard~

~And all the pain is unfair~

~But when you're in Hell long enough~

~You learn to live with the pain~

* * *

**_OWARI!!!_** _**CHAPTER THREE FINISHED!!!  
sorry it took me so long to update. School's been a bitch with homework and crap so I've been busy. Sorry. hOpe you liked it.**_

_**REVIEWS + THIS STORY = ANOTHER CHAPTER!!!**_

_**It's a simple equation. X3**_

_**Hope you liked it!!**_

_**-BelleBelle**_


	4. My Son's Real Home

I sighed heavily. Naruto was assigned to escort me to the Hokage tower. _Naruto _was assigned to take me to the Hokage Tower. _**Naru-frickin-to **_was assigned to take me to the Hokage Tower. It took all my mental strength not to let Psycho Hina (1) out of her box. I groaned and rubbed my temples, getting a worried gaze from Naruto. Kikio looked up at me, worried as we moved through the trees.

"Mama, are you okay? Do you want me to ask Auntie Saku-"

I shot my little girl a cold glare, silencing her. They couldn't find out that we were them. They just couldn't. It would ruin everything we worked so hard for.

"Sorry Mama, I got cousin Kuko confused with Sakuraranta, that nice old lady we met in the water country. We could ask cousin Kuko to fix you up if Auntie Kyo is hurt or busy." Kikio finished carefully.

I smiled at my little girl. She knew the drill. She knew exactly how things worked when she and the others were in a foreign country and no one familiar was around. Kikio knew everyone's fake names. I was proud of her.

"Mizu, I sense Kyo's presence close by. She must be in the Hokage Tower." I heard Tenten tell me in a quiet tone.

I nodded, grateful she knew my fake name by heart. When we reached the Hokage Tower, I looked hesitantly at the door to Tsunade's office. I had felt the change in Elemental Pressure myself, and I knew the hot feeling of Sakura's Elemental Pressure myself. She was the spirit of fire, so whenever she used any kind of binding spell, a feeling of fire ran through the opposite Elemental's bones.

It was the same with Tenten and Temari. If Tenten used a binding spell, if she was telling a secret to her children and made them say nothing about said secret, she'd use her Elemental Pressure to make sure the spell was completed in the right way. And if Tenten was using her Elemental Pressure for a spell, Temari would feel something like boulders pounding on or into her bones.

Just like I felt fire in my bones, Tenten felt lighting; Sakura felt piercingly cold water, and Temari felt pounding boulders. But I digress, after the feeling of fire died down into my bones, I opened the door and found Sakura holding Sakuko in her arms, and Kagami standing beside Tsunade's desk.

The busty woman gave me a nod and a hidden smile rested in her light brown eyes. I nodded at her and felt Yukio and Kikio run from my side and hug Sakura's legs.

"Kyo Baa san!" Kikio yelled cheerily.

Sakura smiled softly and laughed down at my children and I walked over to them.

"You don't want Auntie Kyo to drop cousin Kuko, do you?" I asked them with a wide smile.

Kikio shook her head shamefully and moved away. Yukio was a little bit more reluctant to move, and Kikio literally had to drag him off of Sakura. My little boy always was a little perverted and had a crush on Sakura. It was kind of cute, yet really sick and weird.

Mamoru walked forward to Sakura and bowed, and looked at Sakuko. He growled at her, and she replied with a hiss and a confident smirk. Sakura let her daughter down, who ran over to Mamoru and kicked him in the shin.

"What's that about?" Sakura asked me in a whisper.

I shrugged.

"It's your kid, and Tenten's kid." I replied nonchalantly.

I looked over to Tsunade and grinned sheepishly. This was really going nowhere.

"Tsunade sama, would you be kind enough to allow us and our children to stay in Kohona for well…the rest of our lives?" Sakura asked with a cheesy grin.

I could tell it took much out of Tsunade to not laugh and smile. After barely any consideration, Tsunade nodded and picked up Kagami (much to his displeasure).

"You'll have to enroll your children into the academy and you'll need to get a few jobs. You can each bunk with one of these shinobi until you have enough money to buy a home together." She replied, gesturing.

"Sasuke Uchiha, please take Kyo Haruno and her children to your home. Naruto, take Mizuki, Neji take Tenten, and Shikamaru you know who if you're as smart as we all think." Tsunade said with a grin.

And once again, Psycho Hina threatened to break out of her box and I was somehow able to get myself under control. I was being forced to bunk with Naruto?! Didn't he live in an apartment?

"Ah, Hokage sama, what if one of them lives in an apartment?" I asked her in a soft voice.

I smirked behind a cover of my blue hair, waiting for her answer. But I saw Tsunade give me a smirk of her own as she readied herself to reply.

"Mizuki san, I believe that Naruto Uzumaki san has a full home. One with two rooms, three bath I believe." She replied.

I rolled my eyes and sighed.

"Yukio, Kikio, please follow the blonde man. He's the one we'll be staying with." I told my children carefully.

_I just don't understand why we can't just create a home in the middle of the forest. Temari and I can do that just fine._

Tenten's voice rang in my mind clearly. I looked over to her and found her holding Mamoru by his shirt collar as he struggled against her grip to try and kick Sakuko, who was sticking her tongue out at him. Tenten's expression was disgusted as she stuck her nose in the air, haughty and stubborn.

I giggled.

"Well, nowhere to go but there." I sighed.

Yukio and Kikio nodded and stood by my side.

"Mama, can we get some ramen?" Yukio asked in a shy voice.

Kikio's eyes widened and she tugged on the hem of my jacket.

"IF YUKI CHAN GETS RAMEN, I WANT RAMEN TOO!!!" she yelled.

I groaned and rubbed my temples.

"You can both get some ramen." I said tiredly.

I looked at Naruto with false hope in my eyes. I had to keep up this charade. I knew I had.

"Do you know any places where we can get some good ramen? Preferably for a reasonable price? These two go through ramen like nobody's business, their record is fifty seven bowls each." I said in a soft voice.

Naruto's eyes widened and he nodded swiftly.

"Let's go!!" he said.

Yukio hopped on Naruto's back, yet Naruto didn't complain, but instead lifted Yukio onto his shoulders. I smiled softly as Kikio kept pace with him when we began walking out of the tower. I sighed and couldn't help but wonder.

How long would it be before we were found out?

* * *

_Tenten POV_

* * *

I walked out of the Hokage tower fully knowing where Neji was going. Mamoru and I followed him boredly as he moved. I couldn't help but look down at Mamoru, he was almost an exact copy of Neji, save for his eyes. Though they were lavender as the Hyuga eyes should be, they were shaped like mine, olive shaped and perfectly rounded.

I sighed and looked up when we reached our destination. My face went sour.

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! THIS ISN'T A HOUSE, IT'S A FUCKING MANSION!!!" I yelled.

Neji looked at me with a raised brow. Mamoru put his hand to Neji's arm and he looked down at my son.

"She's always like this, don't worry." He said nonchalantly.

I turned red, angry at my son. That red soon turned into playfulness. I walked over to him and put my fists to his temples and twisted them roughly, it looked like something you'd find in a manga.

"You have no business telling the nice man how I am and how I am not, thank you very much." I hissed, a cat like grin finding its way to my face.

I looked over at Neji to find something like a longing in his eyes. Was it because I had used my same name and hadn't changed my appearance? Was it because he missed me?

I shrugged my suspicions from my mind as we walked into the Hyuga Estate, Mamoru's _real_ home.


	5. The Kind of Person

_Sakura POV_

* * *

Inside the Uchiha Estate was something plucked right out of a scary movie. It wasn't that creepy, but it was quiet. Sad, quiet, and lonely. I shivered a bit. I had never felt so much pain in one sitting in a very long time. Sakuko appeared to feel the same and kept close to me all the while.

Kagami on the other hand looked as though he had just entered a frickin candy store.

His eyes were wide (well, fully open. His eyes are usually narrowed) as he took in everything around him. Kagami looked around, and it seemed as though he were kicking himself for not going around touching everything he set his eyes upon. No, no, my stoic little boy just shoved his hands inside of his pockets and looked around.

I kept my eyes on my child, and briefly noticed Sasuke look back at us. I thought I saw his eyes soften a bit, but then, my hair was in my eyes. It wasn't long before we reached the main house. Sasuke led us through a few hallways.

"The boy can have this room." He muttered, gesturing to a door.

Kagami looked at me before opening the door. He smirked at the grey walls and black bed spread. He couldn't help but grin at the Magenkyou Sharingan symbol on the ceiling and the ceiling fan placed conveniently in the middle of it. He walked into his new room and dropped the little black shuriken pouch on the bed. Kagami hopped onto the bed.

"Arigatoo, Uchiha san." He muttered.

Sasuke nodded at him before continuing down the hall. From my reckoning, and the sharingan symbol, the room Kagami was in must have been Itachi's. Meaning, that the next room would be Sasuke's.

"The girl can have this room." Sasuke said.

Sakuko rolled her eyes.

"The girl has a name and it's Sakuko, Uchiha san." She said her tone light, and aloof.

Sakuko walked into the almost identical room to Kagami/Itachi's. The only differences were a few targets on the walls, with shuriken all over the place. In the walls, on the ceiling, most everywhere you looked, you could find shuriken. Sakuko smiled.

"Arigato, Uchiha san." She said, her mood totally changing.

* * *

_Hinata POV_

* * *

I kept Kiko's hand firmly within my own as we walked towards Ichiraku. It wasn't as if I hadn't known where the place was, it was the place where… Let's not relive the past. I took a seat at the stand and helped Kikio get into hers, though I knew she thought it was annoying. Yukio got into his chair just fine and Naruto was the last to sit. Ayame came forward to take our orders.

"I want miso!!" Yukio yelled.

Kikio rolled her eyes and slapped her brother across the head.

"Say please!!" she ordered.

Yukio rolled his eyes at his sister and turned back to Ayame.

"One bowl of miso ramen, please." Yukio said politely.

"I'll have one bowl of beef please." Kikio said sweetly.

"Another miso please." I said, my voice dry.

"Make that another miso." Naruto chimed in.

Ayame nodded as she jotted it all down on a small notepad. I sighed heavily and put a hand to my head. I ran that hand through my blue hair and sighed heavily.

"So… Morino san, earlier something was said along the lines of you living in Kohona a while back. Is this true?" Naruto asked, obviously trying to start a conversation.

I sighed and looked up at him. A small smile crossed my face.

"Yeah, it's true. I lived here for a while, but left due to personal reasons." I replied easily.

I could tell that sparked Naruto's interest. He looked over Yukio and Kikio's heads, obviously interested.

"Do you mind telling me said reason?" he asked.

I didn't bother hanging my head, it would only result in tears. Instead, I moved a sky blue hair from my face.

"A certain shinobi drove me from my home. Kyoko, Hakura, and Mai all had issues as well with the village so we decided to go together. We've been friends since we were very little." I replied, fudging the truth a bit.

Naruto's eyes dimmed and it seemed as though some sort of excitement had left them. I felt something tug at my heart strings, but no matter.

If protecting us by lying, even at the expense of Naruto's feelings, if that was the case, I didn't mind dealing with it.

* * *

_Naruto POV_

* * *

I'm no idiot. Though everyone makes me out to be some sort of dumbass, I'm not. I'm actually very smart. Smart enough to figure out that these girls we were talking to were Sakura, Hinata, Temari and Tenten. How did I figure it out?

It was too simple. Aside from the whole "Red eyes" thing in the forest when we were in the forest. The story one of the little girl's told me about the boy called "Mamo Chan" and the girl named Sakuko. It was so plainly obvious it kind of hurt. I faintly wondered if Shikamaru had figured it out.

I shrugged. It was also obvious how only "Kyoko" and "Hakura" kept their last names. It seemed to be a very well thought out plan, but I could see through the holes in it. Now I'm no Shikamaru, that much is for sure, but I wasn't blind enough to not be able to see something so obvious.

The question was; how long would it take the others to figure it out?

Or better yet; how long would it take for the girls to tell us?

* * *

_Temari POV_

* * *

I sighed heavily as the lazy ass man lead me and my lazy ass daughter to his home. Thankfully, he had moved out of his parent's home. But then again, last time I checked, it was eight years ago. I shrugged as I walked into the apartment. By the looks of it, two beds, two baths, kitchen, living room, all in all it was very simple.

"The girl can have this room." He said in a bored tone, leading us to one of the rooms.

Sumiko opened the door –bored- to find a tan colored room. The bed had a dark purple bedspread with three white circles on it, basically the opposite of my fan. There were bookshelves with so many books on them, I didn't even bother counting. There was a laptop and a large window that lead out to a little balcony.

Sumiko smirked and nodded at Shikamaru in thanks and walked into her room, dropping the small backpack on her back. Shikamaru lead me into the next room. He put a hand behind his head scratched it.

"Yare, yare…This could get inconvenient." He muttered.

I raised my brow.

"What do you mean, 'inconvenient'?" I asked, folding my arms.

"There's only one bed in my room and the couch isn't a fold out." Shikamaru said boredly.

"You're not suggesting that we sleep in the same bed are you?" I asked, fighting down the joy that escalated within me.

NO!! I couldn't be happy!! After what he did to me… I sighed heavily. Why did I still hold a grudge against Shikamaru? Just because he had gotten me pregnant at fourteen, then cheated on me EIGHT years ago, didn't mean I had to keep on hating him. Eight years is a long time to hold a grudge, let me tell you. It's hard too. You'll occasionally find yourself desperately missing the feeling of his arms around you, the soft feeling of his lips on yours…

But I digress, just because Sakura and the others still held their hatred didn't mean I had to. I'm not the most forgiving person, but I don't think it's healthy to hold a grudge that long. Besides, I know I can't fight what's still inside my heart after so long. I _love_ Shikamaru Nara. And I think Sumiko at least deserves to know who her father is.

I refuse to let my daughter to live this way. She says she doesn't mind not knowing who her father is, but Sumiko is a kind of person who is addicted to knowledge. And I know she feels horrible to not have the one bit of knowledge that every other kid does; who both her parents are. It eats her up inside, and I can't bear having my daughter hurt like this.

"I'll sleep in the living room. I really don't care; I've slept in trees before. I'll be fine." I said with a soft reassuring smile.

I walked away from Shikamaru and into the living room/opening room. I took a small green thing out of my shuriken pouch and spit on it. In seconds flat, it grew bigger until it was a full sized dark green sleeping bag. I rested it on the floor and smiled at Shikamaru who had followed me.

"Besides, it's pretty late. Time flies when you come home after eight years." I said sheepishly before unzipping the sleeping bag.

I crawled easily into it and rested my head on the small build in pillow.

"Night, Shikamaru san." I said softly before drifting off into a silent sleep.

* * *

_Sumiko POV_

* * *

I didn't bother closing the door. I opened the window, and slithered out quickly. I easily found some places to fit my hands and I hoisted myself onto the roof of the apartment building. After finding a nice place, I lay down on the roof and gazed simply at the stars. Each of them sparkled beautifully and I couldn't help but let out a soft sigh of content. The sky was black and the pure white contrast of the stars, flickering delicately in the sky sent shivers up and down my spine.

"You shouldn't be up here. You could fall." A voice I now knew as Shikamaru Nara's muttered.

I shrugged simply.

"I always land on my feet." I replied; my voice soft.

The guy walked down to me, and sat down a foot away from myself. He looked up at the sky as well, taking notice in the skies beauty. I sighed heavily.

"Isn't it beautiful? The simple yet complicated beauty of the stars. It comes close to making me want to cry." I said softly.

"I prefer the clouds. They move carefully, but smoothly in their time. The stars seem cold and uninviting." He replied.

I laughed.

"Nara san, have you noticed that the stars move carefully in their own time too? Stars are full of warmth, color, and beauty; it's up to you to find it."

Shikamaru turned his head to me.

"What's your story?" he asked.

My eyes widened a bit and I turned my head, a few caramel colored hairs getting in my piercing blue eyes.

"My story?" I echoed.

No one had ever asked me that question before. But I figured why not? Mom and my cousins and aunts, my family; we moved around a lot. The way things were, we'd be gone in two days and Nara san wouldn't even remember me. I shrugged.

"I was born on December 1st. I'm the oldest out of the other kids. I've always been protective over them. I don't remember much. I don't know who my father is, I've only had Kyoko, Mizuki, Hakura and my Kaa Chan; my cousins as well. I moved around so much when I was little and I do now, so I don't see much point in making friends or relationships wherever I go. I detach myself from the worlds we move into and out of. I'm the quiet one of the kids, sort of the silent leader…But…" I began, my voice trailing off.

I sat up and hugged my knees to my chest.

"I don't like my life. I'm a person who needs to know as much as she can. Not just about the world around her, but about herself. I desperately want to know who my father is…But Kaa Chan won't tell me."

I could feel my voice beginning to crack, and a lump in my throat was obvious.

"I only detach myself because I'm afraid of what might happen if anyone else knew that I didn't have a father. I want my Tou san!"

It wasn't long before tears were freefalling down my face. It was the first time I had cried. Ever.

"It's not fair." I muttered.

I then felt an arm come around my shoulders and a head rest on top of mine.

"If you're the type of person who needs to know as much as she can, then you're also the kind of person that doesn't give up until they find that knowledge." He whispered.

I looked up at Shikamaru through my tears. I nodded and looked back up at the sky. It was probably just me, but the stars in Kohona skies were brighter than any I had ever seen.

* * *

**_Aww, poor Sumi Chan wants her papa!!!_**

**_REVIEW IF YOU WANT SUMIKO TO FIGURE OUT THAT SHIKAMARU IS HER DADDY!!!_**

**_Due to popular demand, I have decided to make a chart of whose kids are whose and every little thing like that as well as the aliases for the girls. The '+' means that they did it. Italics mean they possess a kekkei genkai. Regular means…Regular. The parent's names will all be bold and underlined. Children who possess more amounts of Elemental Pressure than others will be underlined. Children with both will be underlined and italicized. An asterisk will be put by females and an apostrophe will be put by males._**

**_[[Note: Elemental Pressure and a Kekkei Genkai are basically on the same level.]]_**

**_[[Note: Their alias last names will be put in parenthesis.]]_**

* * *

**Sakura Haruno + Sasuke Uchiha**

_Sakuko Haruno-Uchiha*_[[Haruno]]

_Kagami Haruno-Uchiha'_[[Haruno]]

* * *

**Tenten Fujiwara + Neji Hyuga **

_Mamoru Fujiwara-Hyuga' _[[Fujiwara]]

* * *

**Hinata Hyuga + Naruto Uzumaki**

Yukio Hyuga-Uzumaki' [[Mizuno]]

_Kikio Hyuga Uzumaki* [[Mizuno]]_

* * *

**Temari no Subaku + Shikamaru Nara**

_Sumiko Subaku-Nara [[Kitsune]]_

* * *

**Aliases and Alias Appearances**

* * *

Sakura Haruno = Kyoko Haruno

Appearance- Jet black hair with piercing red eyes

* * *

Tenten Fujiwara = Hakura Fujiwara

Appearance- Dark brown hair with stunning green eyes

* * *

Hinata Hyuga = Mizuki Mizuno

Appearance- Sky blue hair with cyan eyes

* * *

Temari no Subaku = Mai Kitsune

Appearance- dirty blonde hair with smoky grey eyes

* * *

**_I am currently scouring Photobucket for picties that will best depict the characters appearances. _**

**_REVIEW!!!_**

* * *


	6. You can't hide forever

I woke early that morning, stretching and yawning. I scratched the back of my head a sighed the second I realized that my hair had fallen out of its normal ponytail. I groaned and got out of bed as I remembered what had happened last night. That little Sumiko…

I sighed and scratched the back of my neck and began for the door. I opened my door and walked around until I reached the room where I had taken Sumiko when she fell asleep on the roof. I opened the door slightly and looked at her. The little girl with brown hair was still asleep. I smiled as I closed the door and moved into the living room to check on Mai.

I saw Sumiko's mother on the couch where I had left her that previous night. I looked down at her for a long moment. She reminded me of Temari, faintly. I smiled softly and closed my eyes. I could barely remember that last time I had spoken with Temari before she left.

We had just parted ways after a trip to a dango shop, and I had no idea why she was going to that old shop. I shrugged, and what happened after that, I never liked to remember anymore. So with that last thought in my mind, I opened my eyes to see that the familiar dirty blonde hair and sharp, yet gentle features of Temari were on Mai.

I blinked a few times and soon Mai was awake. But it wasn't Mai, it was Temari. She lifted her brow at me, curious.

"What are you looking at?" she asked as she looked down at herself.

Mai's eyes widened as she saw herself. She leapt off of the couch and began for the door. She wasted no time in throwing the door open and flying out the room. I blinked twice before I began following her.

* * *

Earlier that morning, Tsunade had called me into her office. She 'suggested' that I take Hakura and Mamoru to the carnival. By now it was late afternoon, and Hakura was simply ecstatic. She was freaking out at all the games, and she was smiling as if she had never done so before. I sighed as she dragged her son and me to each ride and game.

Her excitement made me think faintly think of Tenten. She had always gotten happy when a carnival had come to town. I smiled faintly as Hakura dragged us over to a aim contest.

"Hit the bull's-eye directly in the middle and get a prize from the top of the shelf!" the man at the booth yelled.

Hakura's eyes seemed to widen significantly. I smirked faintly and looked down at Mamoru who was smirking as well. Hakura put down the 175 yen on the table that the man had requested on the table and picked up the singe senbon that she was allowed to use. She smirked and put a hand over her eyes and turned around before throwing the senbon.

It hit the bulls-eye right on the nose. The man was flabbergasted at what she had just done. Mamoru smirked as his mother chose the giant plushie panda with two sky blue bao buns on its ears. Hakura snuggled into the thing with a smile, and I suppressed a smile of my own. Hakura exchanged a few words with her son and pointed at a nearby booth before she walked off on her own.

I raised my brow at this, but soon realized that Mamoru was walking away. I followed the boy casually until I realized what kind of booth we were at. It was one of those 'guess which cup the pebble was under' booths. Mamoru put the money down on the table and the booth's owner began spinning the cups around. It was obvious that this man used to be a ninja as his hands moved like lightning. I raised my brow; could the boy actually follow this?

"It's up your sleeve." Mamoru said, sure of himself.

The man's eyebrow twitched and he soon had coaxed Mamoru into six more games. People had bet money, and it wasn't long until the boy had won nine hundred eight dollars and ninety five scents in American money. The man was then pissed off and I had taken Mamoru's arm and led him away from the place. He said nothing and let me lead him away.

It hadn't taken us very long to reach Hakura once more. When she learned of the money that her son had won, she dropped her panda plush and had scooped up her son in her arms.

"Sugoi!! Yatta!!" she yelled out cheerily as she spun her son around.

It brought me back to another time, a very long time ago when Guy had forced us all to go to a carnival. She had always smiled on this kind of gambling. I could almost hear her voice yelling out 'Yatta' in my mind as she would win just a few more yen, just a few more times.

_Yatta!!_

_Yatta!!_

* * *

I actually woke up around four in the morning, that day, but left a sleeping shadow clone in my bed. I saw no point in worrying 'Mizuki', Yukio, and Kikio. I was soon out of bed and dressed on my way to the training ground. A kunai whizzed past the back of my head and I knew that Sasuke was there. We were working on Taijutsu this morning; nothing but shuriken and our fists.

I grinned and quickly pulled out my own kunai, shooting it back towards the kunai that was thrown at me. I could hear it hit a tree and I pulled out a kunai, ready and waiting. Without much warning, a windmill shuriken came zooming at me. With an old trick I had learned from Kakashi, I closed one eye and ran towards the shuriken. Sasuke had thrown the shuriken up, so that it was basically rolling through the air towards me.

That was a fairly strange way of going about it, well, for Sasuke at least. In any case, I timed it quickly and shot my kunai into the hole of the large shuriken and quickly knocked off it's momentum, sending it towards the ground.

It hadn't taken Sasuke very long to come out and for fits to begin hitting flesh and knives to begin scraping skin rapidly. I figured now was as good a time as ever to try to get my theory across to him.

"So how's everything with Kyoko and her kids going?" I asked as I delivered a swift roundhouse to the head.

Sasuke blocked it by sending his own kick. Our legs struggled for dominance and the amount of focus and force knocked both of us almost off balance.

"Hn." He replied as we both moved out legs back down.

I sent a swift jab at his face and missed. He took my fist and flipped me onto my back. I groaned and wrinkled my nose, swiftly jumping onto my feet. I sent out three shuriken at him. Two snagged his shirt and one missed.

"I have a theory, Sasuke." I said as I dodged a punch narrowly.

"Kyoko Haruno? Hakura Fujiwara? Wouldn't it be easily possible that All four of them were actually Tenten, Hinata, Temari and…Sakura?" I asked.

I could see Sasuke's eyes flash Sharingan and back and it wasn't long before four kunai had pinned me to a tree. Sasuke then turned around and began walking away.

"You can't run from the truth or even a theory, Sasuke! You can't hide forever!!"

* * *

I hated the way Naruto made sense at the worst possible times. It annoyed the shit out of me. I bit my lip as I got into a tree and began jumping from tree to tree. I finally stopped short and sat down. I turned my head when I heard something or someone ram something into a tree.

It was Kyoko and her children. The three of them were sparring, her children against her. Kagami and Sakuko were doing a fairly good job against the obviously well trained kunoichi. Carefully, I observed them. Sakuko was aiming a punch at the ground, and soon the Earth was torn up. in that distraction, Kagami had been running through the dust, his steps mostly silent, and aimed a large fireball at Kyoko.

That technique mostly belonged to the Uchiha Clan. Yet this boy was so young and already using this technique? I raised my brow, but could faintly see Kyoko almost swimming through the fireball and landing on her feet, throwing out paper bombs all the way. She even landed one on her daughter who did her best to take it off and slam it back on her mother. Yet this trick didn't work, as her mother was already gone and the paper bomb had gone off a few inches from the ground.

I could see nothing as I guessed the children could not as well. I heard the little girl hiss in pain and guessed that a kunai had hit her. The smoke quickly cleared and I saw Kyoko standing up in the middle of the field.

"Battle, over. You've done well." I heard Kyoko say kindly.

She walked over to her daughter and harnessed chakra into her hand, healing Sakuko's wound. Kagami was soon by his sister helping her up. I hadn't noticed that something was wrong with her leg. Perhaps something had gone on during a spar…? I saw Kyoko look up at the tree I was in and in a split second, a kunai was right by my neck.

I looked down at it and looked back at Kyoko.

"Come out, coward!!" she yelled.

I stayed as silent as possible, really bringing in my stealth out to play. Kyoko narrowed her eyes and grabbed her children's hands. Kyoko then pulled something from her pocket and threw them at me. A single shuriken grazed my cheek, drawing blood.

"You can't hide forever!!" she yelled before making a sign and disappearing with her children.

She and Naruto were right.

I couldn't hide forever.

* * *

**_Hope you liked that chapter!!! If you didn't know then the order of these were Shikamaru, Neji, Naruto and finally everyone's most favorite (.) Sasu Chan. Sorry for the wait!!_**

**_-BelleBelle_**


	7. Took You Long Enough

I ran as fast as I could for as long as I could. I couldn't let him see me this way. After all the work we had put into this… It just couldn't happen!!

My feet hit the ground repeatedly and I could hear his behind me. I panted softly. How long had I been running? Why wasn't I using chakra to enhance my steps? Why wasn't I using my element to fly away? Why was I still running? I couldn't answer the final question, so I stopped the second we reached the forest.

I turned around, seeing Shikamaru in front of me. Tears stung at my eyes and I refused to let them fall.

"T-Temari…" he muttered.

He walked towards me and I could feel myself tense up. Why was I afraid? But more importantly, what was I afraid of? Was I afraid because I had given myself up and in doing so, had revealed the others? Or was I afraid that the sweet feeling of pure love that I had hardly remembered was threatening to wash over me, to envelope me in it's warm embrace? I couldn't decide, and decided not to.

"Shikamaru." I said, those damn tears still threatening me.

He was finally standing in front of me. And before I knew it, arms had embraced me. I was being held, I was being held. Tears streamed down my face and a burning joy raced through my system. I hugged him back as hard as I could, not ever wanting to let go again. I could feel warmth on my face, but could also feel it on my shoulder. Shikamaru was crying.

"Why?" he asked softly.

"Because I felt like I had no choice." I replied, my face buried in his chest.

"We have things to talk about." he said gently.

And I let him lead me back to the apartment.

It had taken him four minutes to make the coffee. It had taken me thirty seconds to check on Sumiko. I came back into the small dining room across from Shikamaru. I smiled when he put my cup in front of me.

"Black, five sugar." I murmured softly.

He had still remembered how I took my coffee? Why would he even take the time to remember?

"Explain to me, so that I may be enlightened." Shikamaru said to me as he took a sip of his coffee.

I sighed and took a long drink from mine.

"Well, it started that day that I got you that game set. I was bringing it to you and saw you in…bed with her. Knowing that I had just given up my virginity to you two days prior, I was angry and hurt."

"And one week prior that tattoo had showed up…It meant that I was blessed with great power, but I didn't know this until that night. I had decided on leaving, fully aware of the fact that I was pregnant. Tenten, Hinata, and Sakura all had the markings too, and were pregnant along with me. We decided on leaving to pursue our new powers and get stronger so when we came back, we'd prove to you that we weren't little play things."

"So Sumiko is..." Shikamaru began.

I nodded simply.

"She's your daughter. Her true name is Sumiko Nara." I replied.

"But why are you telling me this?" he asked.

I smiled faintly.

"Because I'm stupid and because I still love you. I…I slowly began to realize on our travels that I couldn't live without you, and when Sumiko was born, I knew that she had a right to know her father. It was my pestering that got us back here, and if I hadn't pushed as hard as I did, we would have been out there for another four years." I said gently.

Shikamaru looked completely and utterly surprised. It was something that I hadn't expected out of him. I would have thought that he would have guessed all of this by now.

"What I still don't understand is why you did that to me oh, so very long ago." I asked, my eyes down.

Shikamaru sighed and looked away.

"It's something that I don't like to remember. Temari, it wasn't what you thought it was. I wasn't doing that of my own free will. Looking back I realize how stupid I was for falling for something like that. A chick I met after training had put some sort of genjutsu on me. I thought I was... loving you, but in reality, it was her. I don't know what her motive was, maybe some quick sex for fun, but I never stopped missing you." He replied.

When Shikamaru looked back at me, I could hardly believe what I had just heard. It had seemed to freaking good to be true. It made no sense. Why was I so willing to forgive him? His story sounded like a carefully planned lie. I didn't want to believe it, yet I found myself believing in him.

"Took you two long enough." I heard a familiar voice snicker.

I turned around to find a half awake Sumiko stumbling towards me.

"I mean honestly, it's not that hard to figure out. Shikamaru san and I are so very much alike, besides, I have his eyes and disposition. What I got from you, I don't freaking know." Sumiko said lazily.

I smiled and laughed as I slid her into my lap. I looked at Shikamaru who simply grinned at my-our daughter's antics.

"I think I know." I replied, kissing her hair.

I picked up my coffee and took a long sip from it, smiling. Things had seemed all right. Things were working out.

"Tou san, can we play Shogi later?" Sumiko asked, yawning.

I looked at Shikamaru and saw such a pride well up within him, that I could tell he could barely keep it inside of himself. I smiled softly and nuzzled into my daughter's hair once more, smelling the pine scent that she had always loved.

"Of course. And Temari, I have a question…" Shikamaru said.

I looked at him and waited for him to ask it.

"Why was Orochimaru after you that day?"

* * *

I could feel it in my bones. It was obvious. I could hear her thoughts in my head, as I had pushed myself in.

Temari had squealed.

I was minding my own busieness, and had decided on checking in on everyone. I dipped into everyone's mind, and found what I did not want to find. Temari had grown weak and had told. I slapped my forehead. Why the hell was she doing this?! It was stupid and unethical and…stupid!!

"Kaa Chan, what's wrong?" I could hear Yukio ask me uncertainly.

I looked down at my son and sighed softly. I ruffled his messy hair and smiled at him.

"Nothing, Yuki kun… I'm just, tired." I said softly as I made my way around Naruto's apartment.

I soon made my way to the kitchen and looked around. There was ramen and milk. That was it. I sighed softly and raised my brow. Was this it? Sighing once more, I gathered up Yukio and Kikio and transported us to the marketplace.

"Can we have Ichiraku's for breakfast, Mama?" Yukio asked, tugging on the hem of my capris.

I sighed softly and tilted my head.

"Alright, Kiki. But just this once." I said, giving in.

The two practically bounced with joy on the way to Ichiraku's.

"The four bowl rule is in play this morning. We still have some training to do." I said gently.

Yukio moaned and Kikio groaned, but either way, they shut up once their ramen was there. Once the fourth bowl was done, I scooped up Kikio in one arm and Yukio up in another. Kikio giggled.

"Kaa Chan, we're not babies anymore!" she whined.

I smiled.

"Fine. I'm lifting mini-ninjas. Its part of my new training regimen." I replied.

Yukio laughed and we were soon in the forest, by a small lake. Kikio was obviously in love with it the moment she had set her eyes on the water. She slid her shoes off and let the chakra fall into her feet. She walked over to and onto the water. I smiled at my daughter and looked to my son.

He was laying down in the grass and the bits of dew in said grass begin to float around him. I smiled softly. Kikio had inherited the byakugan, while Yukio had gotten elemental pressure. I looked back at Kikio and noticed that there were lines of chakra coming out of her hands. Was she using the old technique that I taught her? I smiled softly, knowingly.

I rested my back against a tree and sat down. I put my hand in the grass and felt around. Judging the shifting of the water in the Earth's crust, I could sense that someone was coming. I could recognize that signature at an instant. I looked back at Yukio and Kikio. They hadn't been around this much water in a short while and neither had I. I knew we were all just beginning to soak up it's true warmth and beauty.

Who was I to go and get in the way of this?

"Their mother." I murmured.

But it was too late, the signature was right on top of us, I could feel it. Yukio could feel it, too but he was calm. He knew the signature as Naruto's, and what reason did Yukio have to be nervous about Naruto? He had none, but I did. I could see something in Naruto's eyes. I could tell that he knew something, I wasn't sure what, but I knew he knew something.

I sighed softly and let it be. I began walking towards Kikio, not needing the chakra in my feet to walk on the water.

"Hinata Chan!!" I heard the voice behind me.

And then I made the biggest mistake I could have made.

I turned around.

* * *

**_Uh oh, spaghetti-o!!_**

**_Looks like everything is peaches and cream for Shikamaru and Temari, but how is she going to be able to respond fully to his question?_**

**_What about Hinata and Naruto? Is it even Naruto who is behind her? _**

**_And where the hell are Tenten and Neji??_**

**_What about Sasuke and Sakura?_**

**_And why the hell is Orochimaru after the girls!?_**

**_Reveiw and maybe I'll let you find out! ^^_**


	8. It's Kabu Jiisan

It hadn't taken me too long to get back to the Uchiha compound without running into anyone again. I had a pretty good hunch that the person who was watching us train was Sasuke. I could feel something like fire within him. It was a special kind of fire that only Uchiha's possessed.

Either Itachi had made a visit to see his little brother or Sasuke was stalking his house guests. I didn't care so long as my children were unharmed. When we arrived back at the compound, Sakuko and Kagami basically dashed out of the home after dropping off their shoes. I smiled at them and figured that they were going to the koi pond.

I walked into the kitchen and shuffled around until I found some tomatoes.

"Fresh tomato soup and a few onigri should suit them fine." I said to myself, smiling softly.

And so I set to work. Since onigri could be eaten warm (my mother's famous hot-n-spicy onigri) or cool I started on them first. The rice cooker soon began doing its job as the clumps of rice that came out were warm and perfectly textured. As I began shaping the onigri into familiar triangle like shapes, a scream rang out.

The rice fell from my hands as I dashed out of my house. Something was amiss, that much I knew. My breath fell hard. When had the koi pond gotten so far away? Was this a genjutsu? I quickly put my hands up in a familiar way and released it before looking around. The koi pond was just a few more feet away.

And in those few feet, I could see Sakuko struggling with something in the shadows, with Kagami obviously knocked out on the floor. She was fighting for her brother. I quickly picked up pace but the shadows that seemed to be strangling my daughter caught a full hold on her and somehow Kagami.

I kept running and lunged at it, but it disappeared. I landed on the ground with a thud. I looked up and saw nothing. A smooth, warm state of shock rolled over me. I could still hear Sakuko's scream in my ears. The only thing to drown it out was the careful trickle of water from the koi pond.

* * *

So far, this had been a pretty stellar day. I had won a boatload of shit because of my awesome marksmanship and I was on an all time high. I held Mamoru's hand despite his irritation at this and looked around for a decent food stand. When a dango stand popped up, my eyes widened with joy.

"Sweet!!" I yelled, as if I were a happy-go-lucky genin girl again.

I basically dragged my son over to the stand and spent my time ordering about twenty dozen boxes. I turned around, still somehow able to keep everything in my hands while still being able to see and looked for Mamoru. He wasn't there.

"Mamoru!! Mamo Chan!!" I called out.

There was no response. Suddenly, the taste in my mouth went sour, and bile-like. I quickly dropped everything and put my hand to the ground. Whenever a ninja walks, the ground absorbs miniscule amounts of his or her chakra. This chakra is called an imprint and Mamoru's imprint was what I was searching for.

I closed my eyes and let myself look into the ground through my closed lids. Mamrou's signature wasn't there. I opened my eyes and they widened. There was no other trace of his imprint. All of it was gone. Everything since we first set foot inside the carnival was gone.

I stood up shakily and looked around for Neji. I started screaming out his name and running. When I finally ran into him, I buried my face in his chest. Tears were streaming down my cheeks and I could hardly speak. He took my shoulders in his hands. I didn't know what words were coming out of his mouth, or whether or not they were soothing, but somehow I forced the words out of my mouth.

"It's Mamoru!! He's gone!!"

* * *

I sighed softly and stroked Sumiko's hair.

"Well, when we first were starting out on the road, Orochimaru sent Kabuto to us. He knew of our power and offered us and our unborn children protection. We didn't really know how to use our Elemental pressure and he offered to use his knowledge to help us. It truly was an offer we couldn't refuse." I began softly.

"So we made a deal with the devil. We stayed with Orochimaru until Sakuko and Kagami were born, which is around the time when everyone else was born. It was then that Orochimaru got a sickening interest in Kagami. He didn't want to molest him or anything," I said, noticing Shikamaru's slightly grossed out gaze "He just wanted his body. If he couldn't have Sasuke, why not have the next generation of Uchiha, which actually might be far more powerful with the curse mark?" I asked.

I sighed once more and took a long drink of my coffee before continuing.

"Well, we all noticed it except for the children. They only knew that Kagami was in trouble. In any case, we decided to leave Orochimaru with our children on our backs. Since then, we've been tailed by them. Our children have grown up with a bounty on their heads, each and every one of them. We came to Kohona for help."

Shikamaru tilted his head.

"I don't understand that. You say that they all have a bounty on their heads. Why not just Kagami?" he asked.

I could feel my teal gaze grow grim.

"Two times before we encountered him in Kohona, Orochimaru said that if he couldn't have one of our children, then he'd have them all."

* * *

I mentally cursed myself when I turned around and saw Naruto. He was breathing heavily, which didn't surprise me at all. He stood in front of me, and we just stood like that for a moment until he came closer to me. I could see tears well up in those deep, cerulean eyes and put my hand up, taking them away before they could fall.

"Big boys don't cry." I said, my voice cracking slightly.

When had that happened? When had I become so weak that when Naruto approached me, fully aware of my identity that I wanted to cry? When had this happened and how had I let it?

His hand moved up to my face and wiped something warm from my cheek. So I had been crying? The soft palm of his hand was something that I longed to lean into, something that I longed to hold. It was warm and soothing on my face and I didn't want him to move an inch.

"What about big girls?" he asked.

I shrugged and cracked a small smile.

"We have a get-out-of-jail-free card." I replied.

I could feel t he sweet joy well up within me. But this blissful moment was cut short. A small chorus of 'Mama' brought me out of my trance. I whirled around to see the one and only Kabuto holding my children's hands. My lips curled back in a snarl.

"Kikio, Yukio, get away from him." I said angrily.

Yukio looked confused. He looked up at Kabuto and then back at me.

"But its Kabu Jiisan!" he replied, as if I couldn't recognize the bastard with a fairly loose hold on my children.

"I said get away!" I said, my voice getting louder.

Kabuto seemed to grin at my misery.

"Sorry Hinata, but Kiki and Yuke are coming with me." He said.

He squeezed down on my children's wrists, and their bodies became limp. I started towards Kabuto, but his hands were soon enveloped in chakra. I stopped short and stiffened.

"Orochimaru doesn't want them dead." Kabuto said icily.

A breath hitched in my throat. And though it pained me to no end, when he disappeared in a small whirlwind of smoke, I let him. It was then that I fell to my knees. Those damn sobs racked my chest so hard that I almost couldn't breath. My hair fell over my face and I was faintly aware of the fact that Naruto was holding me. I wiped my tears, but still sniffled slightly as I looked up at him.

"Guess my card expired." I murmured.


	9. I Wasn't Alone

I knew where we were, but I didn't want to believe it. It was easy to make my way out of the bindings. Obviously our captors were dumber than they thought. The cuffs around my wrists were soon broken as a small bit of lightning struck them in the middle.

When I opened my eyes, I found the stupid black blindfold destroying my vision. I quickly untied them and looked around. I saw Mamoru sitting beside me. Sakuko was sobbing into Kikio's shoulder. Yukio was pacing, not daring to sit down. Kagami was gone.

Why was I the only one free?

"Guys?" I asked in a soft whisper.

Mamoru looked over at me and smirked.

"You were supposed to be the smart one, Sumiko. Aren't you a Nara? You should be a genius." He growled.

My eyes widened slightly and I looked over to Sakuko and Kikio. Yukio stopped pacing and turned to me as well.

"He's right Sumiko. You're the one who's always been the genius. You're the one who's always been the leader. Now see where you've gotten us!! Thanks a lot, Sumiko!! To think that I used to like you!" Yukio yelled before he turned around.

Sakuko lifted her head and opened her eyes. But they weren't the shadowy jade that I was so used to. Her eyes had flickered into a Sharingan-like state. Save for the fact that her pupil's were cat-like slits and the entire rest of her eye was blood red.

"If you were such a smartie-pants, Kagami would be here with us, helping to make a plot to escape. But thanks to you he's being…He's being…" Sakuko fell back into a thick spasm of tears.

I looked to Kikio. What was going on? She looked at me, her pale eyes disapproving and turned back to console Sakuko. But she wasn't having it. She got up and strides over to me. Before I knew what was happening her hands were around my neck, my back was to the wall, and my feet weren't touching the ground.

"Thanks to you, he's being poked and prodded by that disgusting _thing!!_ Because of you, Kagami kun is going to become _his_ new body!!" Sakuko screamed, her grip getting tighter on my neck.

I put my hands up to the hands that gripped my neck. I gripped my hands on her wrists, but this only made Sakuko grip my neck harder. I was suddenly grateful for the fact that I had the Element of Wind on my side. I could hold my breath for hours, but somehow, it wasn't happening here.

'_Genjutsu!!' _I thought.

That was obvious!! Sakuko's hold on me suddenly slackened and I fell to the ground. I enjoyed the sweet gasp of air and everything in my vision slurred.

In a more realistic world, my eyes opened. I looked around and found Sakuko's hands on my neck and Kikio's on my wrist.

"Opposite elements can sometimes bring back those lost in the world of genjutsu. In our case, it does work because genjutsu have no real elements. Putting that which is real within the body during said jutsu can bring a fellow Elemental out of it, due to the fact that our bodies are so very used to elements." Kikio muttered when she realized that I woke up.

I smiled down at her and looked around. We were in a cell. Yukio and Mamoru were speaking in the corner. Kagami was gone, just as I had suspected.

"Orochimaru took Sakuko away first, but then brought her back and took away Kagami." Kikio said blankly.

I sighed softly and shook my head. Why was this happening to us? Why our family of all families? I groaned and got to my feet, running a hand through my bangs.

"Well in any case, we need a plan."

* * *

"Kyoko!" I called out.

Few questions ran through my mind. Why was she on the ground? She looked like she was shivering. Was everything alright? Why did I care?

I ran towards her and put a hand on her shoulder. She rolled over. Her eyes were bloodshot and she looked numb. I propped her back up and looked at her plainly.

"Are you alright?" I asked.

Her eyes seemed to snap back into place and she shot up and hugged me tightly.

"They're gone!! They're gone and I couldn't get them back!! Sasuke Kun, they're gone!! They're gone and I couldn't save them." She kept screaming, as tears began falling down her face.

I didn't know what to do at that point. I wrapped my arms around Kyoko and I held her.

"I'm sorry." I said.

I didn't know how much truth was held behind those words.

* * *

"I just contacted Hinata and the others telepathically. They should be here in a few moments." I said beneath my breath.

I didn't know how I could keep myself from crying and screaming. I felt numb and I could tell that the others felt the same way when they arrived. Tenten's hands were raw and looked red. What had she been doing? Had she been tearing at the outer layers of rock, not using her powers? Tenten had a habit of doing so when she was extremely nervous or under great distress.

"We need a plan and we need one now." Hinata said her voice soft.

Tenten nodded numbly.

"We can't just barge into Orochimaru's lair. Plus, we don't have the kind of connection they have." I said my voice void of really any emotion.

I looked down at Sumiko, surprised that she was the only one left. Why was she the only one left? With Orochimaru in this case, it seemed smart to take all of them at once. But the fact that Sumiko was still there confused me. I looked down at my daughter and narrowed my eyes.

"Hinata, run a scan." I said simply.

Hinata raised her brow. Running a scan usually meant dropping an opposite element onto an Elemental and seeing how their reaction would be. Since I was talking to Hinata, I was really speaking to Tenten.

Damn. It was complicated being us.

In any case, Tenten looked up and seen a small bit of dirt was coming in through an open window and landed on Sumiko. The real Sumiko would have shivered and wiped the dirt off immediately. This Sumiko looked at the dirt and wiped it off. I sighed softly and whipped out a kunai from my pack and stabbed the clone in the neck.

"Well what a no good, dirty rotten trick." I mumbled.

Hinata and Tenten shook their heads.

"This is just disgusting. Using an Elemental's DNA to try to make a copy…It's tiring." Tenten said blankly.

"But this does tell us that Orochimaru knows more than he leads on. We need to stay on our toes." Hinata said calmly.

I nodded and looked at Tenten.

"Have you told Neji yet?" I asked Tenten easily.

Neji raised his brow.

"What have you not told me?" he asked.

"That's Tenten, that's Hinata, and of course you can see that I'm Temari." I said evenly.

Neji raised his brow and looked from Hinata to Tenten who by now had discarded their disguises. I figured that despite his façade, he was really surprised and almost kind of hurt at the fact that he hadn't been told sooner.

"We have no time with dwelling on this. We need to contact Sakura. Do you have any idea where she is?" Tenten asked.

I shook my head.

"I don't know, but we can't decide on anything before she gets here or is at least in someone's head." I replied.

* * *

I slowly blinked open my eyes and decided on letting it go. I could feel my eyes turning back to their natural green and my hair back to its natural pink. I looked at him, waiting for his response.

Sasuke looked at me for a minute and I waited faintly for him to push me away, but he didn't. Instead, he pulled me closer and held me. I was surprised, and grateful.

"They're gone." I sobbed harder, and harder.

And he hugged me. He hugged me and kept me there in the warm sweet embrance of his arms. It was a warmth I had never had the pleasure of having before and I couldn't get enough. This feeling was sweet and new and I just couldn't get enough. And it was then that I realized something;

I was hurt and I wasn't alone anymore.

I could hardly believe that I wasn't alone.


	10. For Kagami

At this point I was tired. I had helped Kikio get Sumi out of the genjutsu. My brother was gone, and I just felt like something was missing. I felt like half of me was gone. Kagami was my twin brother. I yawned softly and got to my feet.

"So are we all ready?" I asked.

Kikio and the others looked up at me. Chakra strings were in her hands and Sumiko had a few winds surrounding her legs. Yukio had fierce determination in his eyes. Mamoru looked cool and unaffected, but I knew that he was ready as well. I cracked my knuckles and harnessed chakra into my fists.

"On the count of three." I said.

_'For Kagami._' I thought before ramming my fist into the bars that held us in.

* * *

The thoughts were in my head. I had heard her voice. They were coming to rescue me. I knew it. But they couldn't. They could get hurt. I wriggled around, trying desperately to get out of my bindings.

"That won't work, little Kagami." He told me.

"It wasn't like it was going to help in the first place." The other one said.

I continued struggling against my bindings.

"Just about as stubborn as your mother." One of them said with a smirk.

I knew my eyes were flashing Sharingan.

"Don't ever talk about my mother." I spat.

"Oh, touchy." Orochimaru cooed.

"Bastard."

"You have your mother's language as well."

I could feel something starting inside of me, and I fought to keep it back. I knew that if I even let a little bit go, it would be the death of me, and of anyone else in proximity. I bit my lip back and kept a groan deep in my throat.

"Along with your mother's chakra control and your father's Sharingan, you're bound to be the perfect candidate. Your sister is far too soft for something like this. One little thing and the fragile little thing might die." He said.

* * *

I knew what was going to happen. I could feel it in my bones. He was going to curse all of them. I stood up immediately.

"We have to go." I said to Sasuke.

I harnessed the chakra into my feet and I began running to where I knew the others would be. When I reached Shikamaru's apartment, I didn't care about the fact that Sasuke was a little bit behind me. I basically rammed into the dining/living room.

"We're going after them." I said, my eyes narrowed.

"Sakura, we don't have a plan. We can't just rush in there!" Hinata tried to reason.

"Alright, here's the plan. We go in, get our kids, kick some ass, and come out. Better?" I asked, my voice icy.

I could feel a hand touch mine and I looked behind me to see Sasuke. Was he holding my hand? Though I appreciated this tender gesture, I didn't have much time to appreciate it.

"Sakura, you know we can't do that." Temari said as she stood.

I looked at her as if she was crazy. Of all the girls, Temari and I had been the most emotionally alike, especially when it came to our children. Wasn't she as pissed as I was?

"No, don't worry. I am just as pissed as you, but we can't afford anyone getting hurt or any of us dying an unnecessary death." She replied.

I bit my lip and sank down onto Shikamaru's couch.

"Then what do we do?" I asked, my voice barely more than a whisper.

It was then that Tenten stood and looked at us.

"I'll tell you what. We're going to plan this out rationally. And we're going to get them back." She said seriously.

I nodded as they came over to the couch with me. Temari went into the kitchen and grabbed a piece of paper and a pen. She came back over and sat down beside me. Quickly, Temari began drawing an almost perfect image of Orochimaru's base.

"We can go in there, and get out from this entrance towards the back." I said as I pointed at different points on the small map.

"They'll probably be held either here or there. Kagami will be there, I think." Sasuke said, putting his two cents in.

Hinata nodded.

"Okay. Knowing the kids, they'll probably be trying to get to Kagami. We need to get them before Orochimaru gets them all." She said.

I nodded and got to my feet.

"We strike at dusk." Tenten said.

"By then they all could be dead." I said blankly.

"Sakura, if we go now then we all might get hurt. We could all die." Tenten said.

I shook my head.

"Then I say we go alone. Just the four of us."

Naruto stood, his eyes were defiant.

"No way in hell are we letting you go alone." He said, his voice rising.

I wondered faintly when he had arrived. Or had he already been there? I didn't bother questioning it. I looked at the girls. They all nodded, agreeing with me. They knew this was the only way. Without saying a single word, we were all gone from Shikamaru's apartment and at the gates. My eyes softened.

"Memories, ne?" I asked softly.

They nodded. Temari picked up her fan, and Tenten pulled one of her favorite kunai from a hidden pocket on her clothing. Hinata's eyes shifted to her Byakugan and I let the sweet feeling of fire course through my veins.

"Hold on. We're coming." I muttered before we began moving.

* * *

"We're not letting them go alone." I said evenly.

Neji nodded and let his Byakugan come into place. I looked to Naruto and he cracked his knuckles. He was certainly ready for a fight.

"We should catch up or they could go without us." I said as I got up from my place.

"Knowing them and their new power, they could be in Oto by dusk." I said as I made my way to the door.

Sasuke simply nodded as we made our ways to the gate. It wasn't as if they weren't surprised when we got there. In fact, it looked like they were waiting for us.

"Well, if you're going to come with us, then come on." Temari said impatiently as she jumped on her fan.

I walked over to her and jumped on beside her. What happened then was amazing. In a rush of wind and wisps of air, we actually became air. I looked around and saw that Sakura and Sasuke had transformed into sparks that were already popping and sizzling. They occasionally touched the ground, but did not start a fire as they moved away. They were soon out of sight. Naruto and Hinata turned into water and evaporated into the air as it was soon moving through the sky. Tenten and Neji had disappeared into the ground and a few small bumps showed me where they were going.

"Are you ready or not? We've got to go. Unless you don't feel like rescuing your daughter." She snapped.

I nodded and I somehow felt her hands guide mine to her shoulders.

"Hold on tight, Shika-Baby." She said.

I could feel her smirk on my skin. And away we went.

* * *

_**The final few chapters will be nice and long. At least six or seven pages in Times New Roman size 12, gots it? It's gonna be GOOOOD. Yes, this means that It Was Just Too Hard is coming to an end. Since I'm going to be one busy little bee next week, I won't have much time to type. Just expect the next chapters in one or two week's time. I promise to have them up ASAP.**_


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